How to Manage Your WordPress Website

Welcome to the S-FX Small Business Solutions blog! As a web design and small business consulting company, we help entrepreneurs build, manage, and grow impactful online presences. A key part of that is setting up and running a WordPress website. In this guide from our team of experts, we’ll walk you through the essentials of managing your WordPress site, from keeping things secure to driving more traffic. Let’s get started!

 

Keep Your WordPress Site Updated

One of the most important WordPress website management tasks is keeping your WordPress installation, themes, and plugins up-to-date. Outdated software is vulnerable to security threats, bugs, and compatibility issues, so you’ll want to stay on top of updates.

Update WordPress Core

In your WordPress dashboard, navigate to “Updates” and click “Update Now” if any updates are available. Major core updates don’t happen too frequently, but it’s wise to check each month or so.

Manage Themes & Plugins

Also check if updates are available for your active themes and plugins from the “Updates” section. Or you can update themes and plugins individually from the “Appearance > Themes” and “Plugins” dashboard sections. Enable auto-updates for any plugins from trusted developers to ease management. Manually review changes and test sites after major theme updates.

 

Optimize Website Performance

Site speed and reliability matter for engaging visitors and boosting SEO. Here are performance tweaks for WordPress.

Leverage Caching Plugins

Caching stores pages, posts, etc to load faster. We recommend WP Rocket or LiteSpeed Cache. Configure settings to refresh caches when content updates.

Review Resource Usage

Overloaded servers slow sites down. Check disk space, memory limits, MySQL usage, and more to ensure resources can support traffic. Upgrade your hosting plan as needed.

Compress Images

Large, unoptimized images drastically slow things down. Use EWWW Image Optimizer or ShortPixel to compress existing images. Going forward, upload compressed images.    

Backup Your WordPress Site

Should anything go awry, from a faulty update to a server crash, you’ll want backups allowing you to restore or migrate your WordPress site.

Database + Files Backups

Use a specialized plugin like UpDraftPlus Backup/Restore to schedule automatic backups downloading to your computer or cloud storage. This covers all files and the MySQL database.

Stage Backups Off-server

Store backups remotely rather than just on your web server, where they remain vulnerable. Cloud storage services like Google Drive or Dropbox work, as do remote servers.

Test Recovery Procedures

Once in a while, test actually importing database/file backups in a development environment. Confirm you can successfully recover your site if ever needed.    

Fine-Tune Your Website Security

Hackers target WordPress due to its widespread use. Apply these website security best practices to lock things down.

Strong Passwords

Use randomly generated passwords with varying cases, numbers, symbols for all accounts (Wp-admin, hosting, etc). Password managers help create and store secure passwords.

Limit Login Attempts

Tools like Loginizer thwart brute force login attacks by temporarily blocking IP addresses after a set number of invalid login tries.

SSL Certificates

An SSL certificate activates HTTPS encryption and SSL/TLS protocols securing data transmission between servers and visitors. It’s a must these days.    

Grow Traffic Through SEO

Just launching your shiny new WordPress site isn’t enough—you need visitors! SEO is key for earning organic search traffic.

Optimize Content

On page content directly impacts rankings, so ensure posts and pages target relevant keywords in strategic places like titles and headings.

Smart Internal Linking

Linking between your own content links domains together. Structure sites intelligently with contextual internal links to highlight your best content.

Produce New Content

Search engines favor regularly updated sites with fresh content. Aim to publish new blog posts consistently, focusing on quality over quantity.

 

FAQ

Still have some questions about managing your WordPress website? Check out answers to a few common queries below.

How much time does WordPress management take each week?

It depends on factors like site traffic, plugins in use, editing frequency, etc, but plan on at least 30-60 minutes per week for checking for updates, monitoring performance, writing new content, and other core site management tasks.

Is it difficult for non-tech people to manage WordPress sites?

The WordPress CMS is very user-friendly, even for total beginners. The learning curve is fairly modest. That said, a web professional can handle the technical aspects so you can focus on content and strategy.

What’s the best and most secure WordPress hosting option?

We recommend WP Engine or Kinsta for optimized and secure WordPress hosting. For more affordability, SiteGround and Bluehost are also good choices with plans adding features like automatic backups and caching.

Can I manage multiple WordPress sites from one dashboard?

Yes! The InfiniteWP client portal conveniently allows you to manage unlimited WordPress sites from a centralized location vs logging in to each one individually.

Let Us Handle the Heavy Lifting

While core WordPress management is straightforward, it does demand a regular time commitment and technical know-how. Our WordPress support packages totally simplify the process through managed hosting, updates, speed optimization, security hardening, and more. Contact us today to learn more about our premium managed WordPress offerings!